Wednesday 30 August - Ellesmere

Many hanging baskets are a blaze of color 

The new 501 bus at Ellesmere

The 501 route bus between Shrewsbury and Ellesmere has now been taken over by a new bus company, Lakeland Transport from Ellesmere. It is still heavily subsidized by the Shropshire County Council and the route is the same (Preston Gubbals, Myddle and Cockshutt) but there are fewer trips now.  We caught the 0900 bus from Shrewsbury and were the only people going right through although a handful got on in the outskirts of Ellesmere.

A man was leading a reluctant horse along the street in Ellesmere.  It looked as if he was trying to get it into a side alley next to a butcher's. Perhaps the butcher sold horsemeat.

Ellesmere church from up close

The Mere at Ellesmere was its usual calm with a lot of water birds, many congregating around the Boathouse area looking for handouts.  We walked around the side as far as possible enjoying the early autumn foliage on the tall trees.  The blackberries were very disappointing as they had been heavily picked over - by humans or animals - but I found a few to eat.

Ellesmere church from the other side of the mere

Several docks are now made from material created from recycled plastic bags. This represents 70,000 bags. The material is superior to wood as it doesn't rot or corrode

We had a good lunch at the Boathouse restaurant which became quite busy. There was a short heavy shower during lunch and another as we were walking back to the town centre.  We sheltered under a large weeping willow tree.

The trip back to Shrewsbury was in hot sun. Again, we were the only two who went right through. There were an additional half a dozen all told.

Click here to see all pictures taken at Ellesmere